"I almost didn't pick up the phone": 12 electricians split lottery win

After playing the lottery together for the past eight months, 12 electricians from Ontario are celebrating a massive win.

“I checked the ticket on the OLG App and when I saw the $1 million prize amount I was so excited, I couldn’t believe it,” recalls Tomasz Polanowski, an Etobicoke resident.

After matching all seven Encore numbers in the exact order in the December 17, 2022, Lotto 6/49 draw, the group won $1 million. In addition, they won $20 on their Lotto 6/49 selection, netting them a total prize of $1,000,020.

OLG

What followed was a flurry of phone calls as Polanowski rushed to share the happy news with his co-workers.

First on the list: John Veshovski.

“He called me and sent a screenshot of the win,” said Veshovski. “I thought, ‘Yep, that’s $1 million.'”

Another member said that when he got the call, he was confused about why they’d be calling him on a Sunday.

“I almost didn’t pick up the phone,” said Michael Gavros. However, he added that he was “very excited to hear the news.”

Split evenly, each one gets to take home $83,335. While at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto to claim their cheque, the members said that they have various plans for their windfall, such as investing, saving, paying bills, and paying for home renovations.

Others will also be using their share to travel.

“I might go on a vacation somewhere warm,” said Ryan Kanhani.

Thomas Prce said, “I will use this toward my trip to Egypt.”

Other group members include Damien Miller, Daniel Markovic, Giovanni Serrao, Gregory Stauch, Michael Louie, Michael Rossl, and Nuno Costa.

The group’s winning ticket was purchased at Petro Canada on Burnhamthorpe Road in Etobicoke.